One of my family’s two cats, Cooper was adopted in September 2012 and is the subject of my latest building project. Following in the steps of my Dalmatian puppy and Atlantic puffin, ‘Coopie’ is the third of my scale animal MOCs.

I have always contemplated the challenge of constructing a cat and wanted to try forming the feline face with its eyes, ears, and whiskers. The eyes were the very first part that I set to work on, moving on the face and working down from the head to optimize the proportions. My model turned out a little smaller than the real cat, so he’s more of an ‘adolescent Cooper’ than the real cat who is now about 14 months old.

The real-life tuxedo cat loves to chew on everything he has access to, so you really have to watch him when he’s around LEGO elements!

Thanks to his built-in Power Functions battery box (which can be conveniently removed for battery replacement), Cooper’s eyes feature optional backlighting for better contrast against his pupils. (Although this can have the effect of making him look a little overly-caffeinated or even possessed when displayed in a dark room.) Trying to simulate his smooth fur coat, I’ve tried to rely on actual slopes in most of the model rather than just staggering plates/tiles to suggest his shaping.

Update:

My Cat Cooper spent the month of October 2014 at the LEGO Store in Tigard, OR, watching the store's visitors curiously from the LUG Community Showcase window.

A big "Thank You!" to the LEGO Group for supporting PortLUG, the Portland LEGO Users Group, and giving members like me the chance to display their creations in the LEGO store.

Cooper and his owner.

Thanks so much to everyone for making My Cat Cooper one of my most popular models on MOCpages! I'm honored by your comments and appreciate all of your feedback!

Brilliant! The bricks chosen for the eyes are excellent, it does create a bit cartoonish eyes, but they work so well. Reading that you made them backlit had me in stitches, well done! Cooper should be proud of everyone of his hairs that get trapped in your MOCs! Thx

There are mocs that come along once in a while that are difficult to tell if they are Lego, this is assuredly one of them. Your sculpting is so spot on that it appears lifelike. The eyes are hilarious. Amazing talent and a wonderful job!

Such a pretty kitty. It looks fantastic, nothing looks out of place. Oh, and over the years, my cats gave up on chewing on LEGO pieces since they seerved no value to them, but then again, my cats didn't know how to play with cat toys or had an side effects to catnip. Yeah, it's best to lock up the bricks. There are some rare pieces they got to , and they are such a pain to find on Bicklink with enough other pieces I know I need to actually get an order worth purchasing.

Quoting El Barto !
Nicely done! But what does Cooper think of his likeness?

Thanks for your comment! Before the model was done, I actually took the head bust and placed it in front of my unsuspecting cat before turning the lights on and watching him get spooked. Staring at it, he kind of scooted himself backwards and flinched when I moved it; he quickly headed for the door! (Now, of course, he's to the point where he doesn't even notice it sitting there.) ~Cole